Rare books from C.Arden Bookseller

Fine illustrated and antiquarian Gardening . 1st. Ed. Pub. J. Taylor, London. 1803. pp. 16, 222 [2], frontis., (portrait of author), 27 plates. Fourteen overslips. Collated and complete. 4to. Portrait and one engraved plate lightly foxed. A little, light offsetting. Double-page plate has small, neat repair at fold. Otherwise contents in fine condition. Prov: Bookplate of Walter Ambrose Harding, Madingley Hall, Cambridgeshire. Recently rebound in handsome, period-style, half-brown calf-leather with marbled boards by Bayntun-Riviere of Bath. Spine richly gilt tooled and lettered. Binding in fine condition. First edition of the second of Repton's three works featuring his ingenious use of folding overslips to show the estates before and after improvement. "These three works are chiefly compiled from the author's 'Red Books' and are illustrated with facsimiles of the original sketches, engraved in aquatint. These publications are important as records of Repton's work and views as a landscape… Read More

Martinus Nijhoff. -, 191013. 1st. Ed.. Two volumes depicting 667 birds eggs over 191 individually mounted, chromolithograph and heliotype plates. Tissue guards. Collated and complete. Crown 4to. TEG. English text. Bound in half-morocco leather over marbled boards; raised bands, spines richly decorated and lettered in gilt. Spines show a little uniform sunning. Very minor spotting, o/w. contents clean and in fine condition. Boards near fine condition. A very handsome set of this very scarce and highly regarded work. Prov: Francois Haverschmidt (1906-1987), the world renowned Dutch ornithologist - his ownership inscription dated September 1926 on front free endpapers. ‘A work on the eggs of the birds of Holland, of unusual merits...(it) was issued in an edition of 250 copies, 100 of which were printed in English [the rest in Dutch] (Zimmer II, 651). The work was very well received. A review in the American Ornithologists Union journal ‘The Auk’ (Apr. 1914), said upon the release of the last four parts,… Read More

Fine illustrated and antiquarian Botany . 3rd. English Ed. Corr. & Amen., London, Edm. Bollifant. 1595. pp.[xl], 916, [48]. Black letter, title within woodcut decorative border. Crown 4to. AEG. Contents in nr. fine condition. Nineteenth century half-calf leather over marbled boards, raised bands, gilt lettering and decoration, showing a little wear to spine, o/w. in thor. vg. condition. Prov: Neat private library stamp to pastedowns (Rothamsted, Lawes Trust, acquired by them in 1915). Henrey 112. Henry Lyte first translated Dodoens’ celebrated herbal in 1578. The copy offered for sale here is the corrected and amended edition of 1595. Lyte’s work is held in high esteem. Agnes Arber commented that he was ‘no mere mechanical translator, for the herbal [Lyte’s own copy] is annotated and corrected, [with] references to de l’Obel and Turner being inserted’.

Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. -, 18181820. 1st. Ed.. Two volume set; pp.viii with 176 fine hand-coloured, copper engraved plates, each with page of text, 31-page index plus Errata. Collated and complete. Large 4to. Some minor spotting and off-setting, o/w. contents in fine condition. Fore-edges marbled with matching end-papers. Very handsome, contemporary, panelled full-calf leather, richly decorated with gilt and blind-tooling. Professionally rebacked, with corners neatly repaired. Boards lightly rubbed in places, o/w. in thor. vg. condition. Prov: John Rous, 1st Earl of Stradbroke (1750-1827), his bookplate, and Coronet ink-stamp to verso of front endpapers. Large-paper copy. Scarce. A very pleasing, large paper copy of one of Hooker’s earliest and most scarce works. A large number of the specimens illustrated were collected by Alexander Humboldt, whom Hooker met in Paris in 1814. Furthermore, there are also descriptions of rare mosses found by Archibald Menzies at Dusky Bay, New Zealand,… Read More

printed for the author London., 1679. 1st. Ed.. pp.12 leaves, 143 with 3 fold-out plates and illustrated frontispiece. Small 8vo. Hardback. Contents very clean and in nr fine condition. Several neat, early hand-written notes to margins. More recently bound in half-calf over marbled boards, lettered in gilt to spine, all in fine condition. A very pleasing copy. Scarce. Harding 55. Rusden was appointed ‘Beemaster to the King’s most excellent Majesty at the instigation of John Evelyn. Written by Rusden who firmly believed that a hive was led by a King and not a Queen. In 1679, Rusden improved Geddie’s hive, and put a frame in it for the bees to fasten their combs upon.

Simpkin and Marshall. -[], 18251850. 1st. Ed.. Thirteen volume set with 312 fine hand-coloured plates depicting 1,248 flowering plants. Small 4to. Hardbacks. Some minor spotting and offsetting, o/w. contents fine. Quite superbly bound in contemporary green morocco, richly gilt decorated, all in near fine condition, just lightly rubbed in places. Provenance: The Plesch copy, being from the library of Arpad Plesch (1889-1974) with his leather bookplate to Volume 1. A superb set. Benjamin Maund (1790-1863) was a pharmacist, botanist, printer, bookseller and a fellow of the Linnean Society. He produced ‘The Botanic Garden’ from his press in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. Dedicated to Queen Victoria, and released as a periodical, ornamental plants are depicted with great delicacy. ‘A delightful work, not only full of useful and practical information, but illustrated with most charming plates carefully engraved and coloured’ (Great Flower Books). Arpad Plesch was Hungarian and he amassed the magnificent… Read More

London by J.G. for Richard Marriott., 1665. 1st. Ed.. pp.[24], 174, [2], 175-199, [3], 203-239, [5] plus 8 engraved plates of garden designs. Small folio. Hardback. Just occasional spotting, o/w. contents fine. Old inked pen-trial. Contemporary reversed calf boards, with Cambridge panel style decoration, neatly rebacked, all in very pleasing thor. vg. condition. Provenance: Henry Streatfeild (1706-1762) of Chiddingstone, Kent, English landowner with his ownership inscription to engraved title-page and his armorial bookplate. A very pleasing copy of ‘the most important English treatise on gardening to be published during the second half of the seventeenth century (Henrey). Rea undertook writing of the book since he found that Parkinson’s ‘Paradisus’ needed ‘the addition of many noble things of newer discovery.’ The work contains designs for gardens, and many pages dedicated to fruit (apples, cherries, pears etc) and tulips.

Fine illustrated and antiquarian Ornithology . 1st. Ed. Gaines, NY; [Albion, NY and Lacon, Ill.]. 1884-1941. Fifty-eight volumes with photographs throughout, plus plates and advertisements, bound in 15. 8vo. Hardbacks. A little spotting to top-edge of text block of six volumes. A handful of neat repairs, o/w. contents exceptionally clean and in nr. fine/fine condition. Handsomely bound in 20th century blue buckram, with gilt lettering. Prov: from the library of Fred J. Pierce (1902-1992) with his bookplates and his name in gilt to the foot of all spines. A large, rare run, no comparable set traceable. An astonishing work. Originally published as a monthly journal entitled ‘The Young OologistÂ’ until January 1886 when its name was changed to ‘The OologistÂ’ and at the same time, became a bi-monthly publication. With a focus on Oology, it does touch on related subjects including taxidermy and the collection of other natural history specimens. Fred J. Pierce was editor of the highly respected journal… Read More

Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown., 1816. 1st. Ed.. Three volume set with 240 fine copper engraved plates of which 237 are hand-coloured and three are b/w. (as published), with the Dictionary of Botanical terms and Index at end of Vol. III. 8vo. Hardbacks. AEG. Contents in near fine condition. Contemporary full, straight grain, leather binding, with richly decorated spines and borders, gently rubbed, o/w. nr. fine. A very pleasing set indeed. ‘This work is intended to be a complete illustration of the Linnaean system of Botany’. It was published in both coloured and un-coloured issues.

Fine illustrated and antiquarian Ornithology . 1st. Ed. Pub. L. Reeve & Co. [1894]. pp.[6], viii, 332 with 60 fine hand-coloured lithographs by F.W. Frohawk. Large 4to. Hardback. TEG. Very small number of spots to contents, o/w. exceptionally clean and fine. Contemporary three-quarter burgundy morocco over red cloth boards, gilt lettered to spine, in as close to fine condition as one is likely to find. A super copy. This was Butler’s most important work and involved his favourite subject Cage Birds. Although some of the illustrations are not true finches the book does contain considerable information on their appearance, distribution, song and behaviour in captivity. The illustrations by Frohawk are some of his best and are outstanding.

Fine illustrated and antiquarian Ornithology . 1st. Ed. Pub. Henry Sotheran & Co. [1898]-1902. Two volume set with engraved frontispiece portrait and 149 hand-coloured lithographed plates by and after J.G. Keuelemans. Folio. Hardbacks. TEG. Portrait tissue-guard showing some creasing. Only very occasional, very minor spotting, and a little off-setting, o/w. contents exceptionally clean and fine. Contemporary green half-morocco, spines gilt decorated and lettered, over green cloth boards, gently sunned on spines, in excellent, nr. fine condition. A very pleasing set indeed. "A thorough monograph of a limited section of the family Turdidae ... Several new species are described. The hand-coloured plates by Keulemans are excellent" (Zimmer). Seebohm passed away in 1895. By that time had overseen completion of most of the plates, but the supporting text was unfinished. Richard Bowdler Sharpe’s subsequent contribution ensured that the work was published.

Fine illustrated and antiquarian Botany . 1st. Ed. Pub. London. 1640. pp.xx, 1755, [i] with 2714 fine woodcut illus. With printed title and engraved allegorical title by Marshall incorporating a portrait of the author. Folio. Hardback. Printed title, engraved title and last leaf of index laid down. Woodcut portrait of John Parkinson to verso of engraved title. Errata leaf in facsimile on period paper. Only minor indications of age including four minor paper flaws, upper corner of p.537/8 removed (only partial loss of pagination number), five neat repairs, o/w. contents exceptional and very pleasing indeed. Later full-calf binding neatly refurbished and rebacked retaining original spine (gilt lettered morocco label) in nr. fine condition. A super copy. A magnificent work and arguably the most detailed herbal in the English language.

Fine illustrated and antiquarian Natural history . 3rd. Corr. Ed. Pub. John Murray, London. 1861. pp.xix, 538 with half-title, fold-out lithograph diagram plus 2-page John Murray catalogue. 8vo. Hardback. Signature of first owner, dated 1861, to title-page and front pastedown. Additional signatures (dated 1896 and 1942) to ffeps. Very minor spotting, corner of two leaves turned. Overall contents exceptionally clean and nr. fine. Original decorated green cloth thor. vg. to nr. fine. Original brown coated endpapers with binder’s (Edmunds & Remnants, London) ticket to rear pastedown. Freeman 381, binding variant ‘a’. A very pleasing copy.

Fine illustrated and antiquarian Gardening . Fac. Ed. Pub. Aboca Museum Edizioni. 2006. Three volume set with 367 full-page colour plates. Large folio. Hardbacks. Contents in fine condition. Original blind decorated cream leather bindings in fine condition, each volume housed in original publisher’s cardboard case. One of 1,450 sets, this set one of 50 reserved for Folio Society members with their prospectus loosely inserted. Deluxe facsimile of the first edition of one of the greatest flower books in existence. Published in Nuremberg in 1613, ‘Hortus Eystettensis’ is ‘the most impressive of the early 17th century florilegia’. The work was published ‘under the patronage of Johann Conrad von Gemmingen, Bishop of Eichstatt, in whose garden most of the plants were grown’ (Rix).

Fine illustrated and antiquarian Gardening . 2nd. Rev. Ed. Printed by Adam Islip, Joice Norton and Richard Whitakers. 1636. pp.[xxxviii], 1632 with engraved title, over 2,500 wood-block engravings plus Indexes and Table of Virtues. Collated and complete. Folio. Hardback. Seven wood-block engravings hand coloured (not dated but in keeping with the practice of the period). Last leaf professionally remargined with loss to a couple of letters only. Other than marking to some margins, as is common with herbals, and some occ. minor spotting the contents are very clean and nr. fine. More recently handsomely rebound in full calf with raised bands and blind ruling decoration, a trifle marked o/w. fine. A very pleasing copy of Thomas Johnson’s expanded version of John Gerarde’s Herball (first published 1597). It is ‘noteworthy for its many corrections, improvements, additions’ (Henrey). Johnson indicated where he had made amendments with obelisk and double obelisk symbols.